Hyderababd MP and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owasi has said that though Pakistan's standard time was 30 minutes behind India's, in reality the Islamic republic was lagging behind India by half a century.
Post-Pahalgam terror attack, Owaisi, while addressing a public meeting at Prabhani in Maharashtra to oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Act, said - the terrorists asking the religion of tourists before killing them was something unbecming.
"Which religion are you talking about? You are worse than the Khawarij. This act shows you are the successors of ISIS," he said.
In a video clip shared by him in 2021, Owaisi is heard saying that Yogi Adityanath will not always be the chief minister and Narendra Modi the prime minister.
“We will not forget the injustice. We will remember this injustice. Allah will destroy you through his strength. Things will change. Who will come to save you then? When Yogi will return to his mutt and Modi will retreat to the mountains, then who will come?” he said.
As expected the BJP blasted him for the remarks and saffron party's Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi had said -- “...soul of Jinnah resides in Owaisi,”
He also had said that the Hyderabad MP’s remarks are similar to that of Jinnah made in 1946, a year before partition, while talking about direct action.
The history of his AIMIM and the Razakars is intertwined, but Owaisi has been unsparing, and one of the most vocal critics of Pakistan, even when some senior Congress leaders have gone soft and even embarrassed the leadership of the grand old party.
It s being argued now that by doing so, Owaisi is foiling Pakistan's most devious and diabolical gameplan.
That AIMIM chief tore into Pakistan shouldn't come as a surprise to many because though a right-wing politician vis-a-vis Muslims; he is a nationalist., as they put it. Owaisi has a knack of keeping himself among headlines by his eloquent criticism of the BJP and the Modi government.
In 2021 he hit headlines when after Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief O P Rajbhar's statement in Uttar Pradesh that had Muhammed Ali Jinnah should have been made the first Prime Minister of India to avoid partition, the AIMIM chief had said that Congress leaders of that time were responsible for partition.
However, quite often he has been flayed for 'dividing' Muslim votes in states such as Bihar (2020) and thereby helping the BJP and the NDA.
But coming to Pahalgam, he has made blistering attack on Pakistan.
"This act [Pahalgam attack] shows you are the successors of ISIS," Owaisi said, referring to the massacre of 26 people who were singled out as non-Muslims and shot dead from close range in south Kashmir on April 22.
According to writer and historian Patrick French, Owaisi appeals to "non-sectarian Muslim identity", though not to the Muslim faith, in a way similar to Jinnah's bid to be the sole spokesman of the Muslim community.
His brand of Islamism with nationalism thrives in Hyderabad Old City.
Owaisi dismisses the comparison with Jinnah citing the fact that his fight is within the framework of the Indian constitution.
He says that the secular (read Sickular) parties of India have not been able to transfer their votes to Muslim candidates.
Of the 23 Muslim MPs elected in 2014, 18 or 19 were from constituencies with 30% Muslim voters.
While the parties claim not to discriminate against Muslims, they in practice leave the Muslims in a "ghettoized position". Hence, Muslims must develop their own political force, similar to OBCs, Dalits and Yadavs, he has stated.
In the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks, Owaisi demanded action against Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed for killing innocent people.
He said that the enemies of the country were enemies of Muslims.
Responding to criticism from Pakistani leaders over India's reaction to the Pahalgam attack, Owaisi said:
"Our military budget is bigger than your national budget. Pakistani leaders should not threaten India with a nuclear war.
They should remember that if they kill innocent people in another country, no one will remain silent".
ends
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